After managing a perennial World Series contender, the Yankees' Joe Girardi will be guiding a team that may be battling to stay out of the AL East basement.

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With absolute purpose in each and every step, Yankees manager Joe Girardi began at home plate and moved slowly up the third-base line. His hands were on his hips, and each step was a deep lunge.

Step by step, Girardi lunged into left field, all the way to the outfield wall. When he got there, he reversed course and lunged all the way back to the water bottle waiting at the plate.

It was methodical and meticulous, leaving little room for improvisation or distraction. It was a postgame workout surely reserved for only one manager in all of Major League Baseball; uniquely designed for the man who guides ...